She stops, and her jaw tightens. The pauses between her words give away more than her body language does. She’s choosing each one carefully, afraid of what will happen if she doesn’t.
I fucking hate that.
I want her to say whatever is on her mind.
“What’s wrong, Thayla?” I ask more forcefully than Kyzen did, and her face twists.
“I’m drained. More than I led on.”
My chest tightens from her low tone.
“I don’t want it to seem like I’m using you. Or like this is just…” She rubs her forehead before tossing her hands up and letting them slap down on her thighs. “A solution. Because it’s not. That’s not what this is.”
She finally looks at me, eyes bright with something she doesn’t want to let spill.
“I need you.”
Her words tumble out. Vulnerable in a way she hates being.
“And I don’t know how to say that without sounding selfish, or broken, or like I’m trying to erase what happened today. I’m not. I swear I’m not. I know that if something else were to happen, you all would protect me. I know that with literally every fiber of my soul, but I need to feel powerful. Whole. Right now, I’m so…empty.”
Empty.
That’s the right word.
Behind the guilt, the grief, the pain, there’s nothing but an empty shell of myself.
The truth settles into me slowly, viscous and undeniable. I’ve been telling myself I need distance. Routine. A place to break alone like always. That was my first instinct. Get out of her room and get to my bathroom.
But standing here, looking at her—drained, feeling guilty, but still reaching out to us—I understand how wrong that habit is. How wrong all our habits are.
We should’ve learned this the last time.
I believe we did somewhat.
That’s why we all hesitated the moment she called us down.
This is our chance to run to her, not away.
The air grows heavy as she takes our silence as rejection immediately. I step closer to her without a thought, drawn to her and her soul.
I exhale as I hold myself steady.
“V. Let go.”
His hoot vibrates my mind rather than the room.“Are you certain?”
“Completely. She’ll make me whole. And I her.”
He and his power flash from the room.
The pain I’ve been avoiding settles in with each step I take, sharp and real, and for a heartbeat, I think it might undo me.
Then my lips crash into hers.
My soul sings in my chest as it devours hers. It’s as consuming as our kiss, but it doesn’t block out her pure, addictive essence. The light that flares from her soul cuts through my tainted stain even as it surrounds hers completely in a…hug.
Our mouths tear apart as one of my brothers pulls her armor over her head. I follow suit and strip my top armor, groaning when my eyes land on her bare chest. The lust pouring through our gazes snatches us back together.
